Why Do So Many Companies Refuse to Ship to a PO Box? (house, converted)
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This is a major gripe of mine living in the boonies. Yes I know, I CHOSE to live in the boonies, no one put a gun to my head, but one thing I'm noticing is that a LOT of companies refuse to ship to a post office box. That makes no sense to me, especially when often-times they don't use UPS or FedEx (which would explain why somewhat if that were the case).
I don't think my choosing to live in the boonies & then complaining about this difficulty is the same as, for instance, someone living in Alaska or Hawaii & complaining about higher shipping costs or people refusing to ship anywhere but the 48 states. Having a post office box actually is an attempt to make things easier for such shippers, as our homes can be tricky to find & differentiate from each other--post office boxes make that easier on them, we're willing to make a trip into town to get our mail vs having it right at our doorstep, so as to make it easier on the shipper/seller etc.
Where I live, many people--although not all of them--don't even have a physical mailbox due the very rural nature of the place. Thus it's common for many around here, including myself, to rent to a post office box. It makes a lot of sense too--you don't have to worry about theft (although given the small town nature of the place I wouldn't worry much anyway) or confusion about which house is which, etc, or (in the case of UPS etc) having to be home else it's taken back to the processing warehouse, etc.
It wouldn't bother me so much, except UPS & FedEx have a DEVIL of a time finding me, yet they easily could if they'd utilize one great tool--GPS coordinates. I've actually shared my GPS coordinates (converted to a "clickable" Android Google Maps link) with others & it took them right to my home, dead-on. When I've run my coordinates by entering them into a Garmin Nuvi, again--dead-on accuracy. If I, a "normal" person can do that, surely FedEx and UPS, being companies in the business of delivering anywhere however rural or whatever, can do that, it would make everything so much easier.
That's one of the things I like about living in a really small town. We don't have residential mail delivery (other than a couple of streets at the edge of town serviced by the rural carrier) so everybody has a PO box. So there's no way the USPS is going to deliver anything to my house, but because everybody who works at the Post Office knows everybody in town, I can put my physical address and it will go to my PO Box anyway.
My choice is either to use a carrier to the house or to a business. I found out that shipping to a commercial address can be cheaper, so I cheerfully have things sent to one of my friends' businesses.
Our local driver delivers to the school if there is something going on there. He knows he'll catch many of his customers and not have to drive half the county.
Have you tried using the physical address of the Post Office where your box is located?
I have no need to do it so can't say it works but have had others tell me it worked for them.
Some post offices are allowing (you have to set it up with them) for a 'physical address' delivery to your PO box. I live in an area where some people have to have PO boxes and some only have them because they want them. I have a PO box and a house that does get mail. I have my name on file with my PO, I use thier street address for UPS, Fed-Ex or just USPS for those deliveries I don't want to come to my home.
It would be similar to a situation where one of the other lumber yards at the other end of town would want to have a shipment of special order siding delivered to our yard because it is closer to the customer's home. Use our facilities, but we get nothing out of it.
And people complain the USPS is inefficient and losing money, but then want them to do additional things, usually expecting them to do it for free.
It would be similar to a situation where one of the other lumber yards at the other end of town would want to have a shipment of special order siding delivered to our yard because it is closer to the customer's home. Use our facilities, but we get nothing out of it.
And people complain the USPS is inefficient and losing money, but then want them to do additional things, usually expecting them to do it for free.
No it's not.
When you buy/rent a PO box you PAY FOR using that address.
Wholly dissimilar.
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